The Apple Does Not Fall Far From The Tree
by vezrio
Summary: I won't make my mother's mistakes. I won't fall for some stupid prince who'll just choose someone else over me one day. Despite all my efforts, I won't be noticed anyway. I won't make the same mistakes.
1. Chapter 1

After witnessing how hard her mother fell for Prince Chrom, Severa had always told herself that she will never, ever fall for royalty. She knew how hard it broke her mother's heart, seeing the love of her life wed someone else; sometimes she doubted if her mother truly loved her father or if she only used him to forget about the prince. Of course, what hurt the most, was how her mother often seemed to put work first before her and to Severa, it would always look like her mother would choose Chrom over her. All the time.

Acting indifferent from Lucina is easier. At first, she hated the princess. She was perfect. Much like Cordelia. Lucina was pretty, she was good at fighting, she was kind, and a born leader. Most of all, she inherited her mother's superior intelligence. She was a beacon of hope and everyone looked up to her. Lucina was everything Severa strived to be, but could not become. And yet, she could not hate her fully. She would not admit it outright, but she had a soft spot for the princess. Solely because she was _Lucina_ and in a way, she was like an older sister to her. To all of them unfortunate children with broken families and a crumbling future.

And then, there was that other one. Lucina's younger brother. That irritating, loudmouthed, insensitive, dork of a boy named Morgan. She didn't like him at all. She didn't understand why he's so happy all the time. Sure, maybe he is a prince, with an Exalt for a father and a gifted tactician for a mother. He may be from royalty, who can ask for anything he wants and have it delivered in a golden platter, yes, well lucky for him. But still, even Lucina is never that cheerful. Morgan was just… much too energetic.

Severa considered him as a waste of energy. He was always running around always seemed to be causing trouble, shouting ridiculous things along with Owain and Cynthia. He was always following his mother around even though he's aware of how busy the tactician always is. He's insensitive and clueless and he was a child to the core. Severa hated him. She… hated him. Truly…

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><p>Severa gritted her teeth as she watched the young prince run around the camp, a stack of tomes held out in front of him. She watched him greet every single person he passed by, calling out their names as if he had them memorized and engraved into his brain. However, since it's Morgan, Severa thought it was possible and she wouldn't be all too surprised if that was the case.<p>

The mercenary huffed and stood by the side. She turned away, pivoting and preparing to leave, when someone called out to her enthusiastically. Of course, it was the prince. She wanted to ignore him, to walk away and just pretend to not hear him but her body's reaction was different. As if on autopilot, she turned around and faced Morgan, who was smiling and waving at her, perfectly balancing the seemingly heavy stack of tomes in one hand. No, Severa was definitely not impressed with that. Kjelle can do it with much more ease!

"You doing something?" the prince asked with eagerness, as if her business was the most interesting thing

"What's it to you?" she spat out with as much venom as she could muster.

Morgan's smile did not falter even for a bit. Gods, it seems as if it even grew wider, according to Severa's eyes, if they were still functioning properly. Of course, she thought he looked ridiculous. Yes, truly, she did and she had to roll her eyes at him. "Well, I was just going to ask if you wanted to… well, talk maybe? Oh, after I drop this off to my tent I mean!" he laughed, as if that was a joke meant to be laughed at.

"And what makes you think I want to talk to you?" she snapped, hoping that this might throw the boy off and leave her alone. Not that he had been clinging to her, no. For the past two days, after he was found by Chrom and Robin in some ruins they had visited lately, Morgan had been reaching out to the other Shepherds, mostly to the other time travelers, talking to them to see if he could bring out forgotten memories. So far, he hasn't initiated a proper conversation with Severa, and this makes it the first time.

"Hmph. I'm busy. Go bother someone else." She huffed, before turning away and flipping her long hair over her shoulder, not even glancing back. "Oh okay… maybe later then?" Morgan called out, to which the mercenary only responded with a 'whatever, do what you want!' comment.

Of course, a part of her knew that Morgan wasn't going to be discouraged just by her snarky responses and she proved herself right when the said prince came running up to her three hours later, looking just as cheerful as he always had been.

"Hey Severa!" He greeted, directing his warm smile at the mercenary. "You don't seem busy right now… wanna hang out?" He had caught her doing nothing, sitting back against a tree, looking at nothing in particular. She cursed herself for spacing out and feeling so lazy sometimes. Maybe she should start following her mother's examples. Severa wanted to shout at him and shoo him away, but something held her back and that wasn't just because he was a prince. She just didn't know why.

"Like I said, do what you want. Gods Morgan, it's not like I have you on a leash!" she muttered instead. Again, this didn't faze him at all. He sat down next to her and leaned back, sighing of satisfaction. It surprised Severa when she realized that she thought of his sigh as melodic.

"So um… Severa. You're Lady Cordelia's daughter right?" he asked. It felt strange having him ask her that question seeing as they almost grew up together. With Cordelia being the captain of the Pegasus Knights back in their own timeline, she had spent most of her days in the palace, playing with the other children. They knew each other well enough to have been called brothers and sisters.

"Yeah and?" Severa asked. Can't he just leave her alone? She didn't understand why he just can't stay away from her like all the others did. It's not like he could get anything out of hanging with her.

"Oh uh… nothing, really. Just making sure." He laughed. She hated his laugh.

"Just making sure? Well sorry if I don't look like my mother. Sorry I'm not as pretty as her!" she grunted. She knew where this was going already anyway. Whenever someone asked her if she was Cordelia's daughter they would always point out how she was so different from her mother. How Cordelia was always so skilled and she was not. Cordelia was pretty and she wasn't. Her mother was nice and responsible while she was lazy and had a rotten attitude. She hated it. Severa hated it so much that she had started pointing it out and comparing them herself. They were going to do it sooner or later anyway. She figured Morgan was no exception.

She watched as the prince finally frowned, his eyebrows furrowing, the look of confusion making its way into his face. _'Yeah, and you're not as great or as nice either'_ Severa was waiting for that statement. Everyone said it, Morgan would too. She watched as he opened his mouth to say something, expecting him to criticize her.

_I won't make my mother's mistakes. I won't fall for some stupid prince who'll just choose someone else over me one day. Despite all my efforts, I won't be noticed anyway. I won't make the same mistakes._

"What? No, I'm just really making sure! Y'know, just so I won't get mixed up and all. But I think you're really pretty Severa. Ever since I first saw you, I thought, wow, she's beautiful. I mean, not like my-mother-beautiful but… well, pretty. I-I dunno! J-Just forget I said anything, I'm rambling way too much again aren't I?" the prince said, a small blush dusting his cheeks.

Severa looked at him. This irritating, loudmouthed, insensitive, dork of a boy named Morgan. She didn't like him at all. But then again, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and Severa _is _her mother's daughter.

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><p><strong>A.N.<strong>

**Something I came up with while writing my other FE:A fanfic. It's supposed to be a series, muti-chaptered but I'm still debating on whether to continue this or not so for now, it'll be a one-shot.**

**Anyway, MorganxSevera! I don't really ship a particular character with Morgan. I ship all 2nd gen characters with Morgan! Well, probably, except Lucina. I've always thought of her as his older sister since I'm a hardcore Chrobin shipper. So why Severa? I dunno, I just think her tsundere personality is cute with Morgan's cheerful outlook. Plus she's Cordelia's daughter! Cordelia couldn't get Chrom so I have always fantasized that maybe Severa gets Chrom's son. Seriously, that's the closest I can get I dunno**

**Well, thanks for reading my sloppily written oneshot (I may just continue this, I dunno)**


	2. Chapter 2

Morgan wasn't the first boy to ever call Severa pretty. With beauty and charm inherited from a mother as stunning as hers and a few improvements she added herself, she surely had the privilege of hearing those compliments quite a number of times. Of course, her father always said that to her. He'd say she was as beautiful as her mother and one day, she'll be more beautiful than Cordelia. One day. But until that day comes, she's only just behind her mother. In everything.

Other men would tell her the same thing as well, without batting an eye, only for the sake of flirting and to get a favorable response from her. "Like mother, like daughter." They'd all say. "You certainly got your beauty from your mother" she'd hear that sometimes during odd days. At first she was pleased, thankful that she had at least her mother's perfect beauty. Along the way, she just grew tired and irritated towards everything else. It was only for the sake of flirting anyway. She no longer trusted other men's words. Sometimes it felt like even her own father complimented her because it felt like an obligation. Of course she knew it wasn't true, but she felt it anyway.

Then Morgan had to come and say it out of the blue. _"__Ever since I first saw you, I thought, wow, she's beautiful." _

Morgan's words kept replaying in her head over and over again, like a broken record. It wasn't delicately put, like a proper prince should. It wasn't colorful, like Owain's choice of words or flowery like Inigo's. The way Morgan said it was different. It was awkwardly boyish, free of flirtatious intent. It was as if he spoke it completely by accident, like a secret he wished to keep to himself. He said it like it was simply the truth. Of course, he had compared her to Robin, but that was only to be expected of Morgan. Everyone knew how much he loved his mother and when she acknowledged that thought, the fact that she was compared to a woman whom Morgan held such high regards, she was strangely flustered.

_'Shut up! Don't kid yourself! That idiot actually compared you to Robin! Plus, he said that you're not beautiful the same way his mother is. What does that even mean?!' _she would keep thinking as she walked the camp. Despite that, he did say she was pretty and Morgan was sincere, isn't he? He has to be. He wasn't the type to just give out false compliments, right? Severa couldn't bring herself to doubt the prince.

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><p>Apart from being on kitchen duty, tasteless, cheapskate men, hollow words, being compared to her mother, getting denied of what she wants, over clingy people and other things Severa couldn't list, there was something she had grown to hate with so much passion. This one was newly discovered and was currently fighting its way to the top of Severa's most hated list directly under 'getting-compared-to-mother'. That was the reeking box.<p>

In all honesty, Severa was not a slacker when it comes to training. No, she trained just as hard as anyone. She just didn't like to show it that much. When you're from a hopeless future where all you had to do was survive a day longer, training was vital. It was especially more so, when your mother was deemed a calamity with beautiful, slender legs in a war and you had to match and uphold her legacy. She thought that when she went back to the past, where their parents were still alive and they had more chances of beating Grima, training would be easier. She could not have been any more mistaken.

Of course, Robin had to be obsessed with reeking boxes. Such a thing was unheard of in their future. Who would want to summon Risen when everyone else was undead already? However, Robin seemed to live and breathe for reeking boxes, always holding three or more during mornings and summoning Risen in desolate and abandoned areas for training. She would pick a handful of Shepherds and leave them to deal with the Risen for experience, sometimes overlooking and giving them assistance when needed. Of course, they did develop experience and skills with repeated combat and sometimes romantic relationships as well (although in all honesty, Severa didn't find stories that involved "he almost got impaled so I steered my horse and killed off the enemy romantically" or "I had to romantically skewer the enemy because I thought if I didn't, I wouldn't get another chance to confess to her" romantic at all) but Severa was getting tired of it and even dreaded the sight of such boxes.

That morning though, was no exception. Robin carried three of the damned boxes again and resolved to pick three groups of combatants from the future children, to be led by Cynthia, Morgan and Inigo. Severa found herself in the second group along with Gerome, Nah and Noire, who were, of course, to be led the young prince himself, Morgan. The group was relatively quiet; Gerome was his ever silent self, looming above them on top of Minerva as he flew to their destination. Nah didn't say a word; she didn't feel the need to while Noire was mostly just too nervous to create a coherent sentence without waving her talisman around. Even Morgan rarely said anything. He was the picture of calm as they traveled to their destined combat grounds, studying the map his mother gave him before they were dispatched. It was nice to see that maybe he was formulating a plan to keep them alive, but seeing him so silent for more than five minutes obviously unnerved her. Of course, this wasn't the first time she saw the prince in unfiltered concentration, but she just couldn't bring herself to get used to the sight of it. When he furrowed his eyebrows and bit his lower lip slightly, she was reminded of his mother as Severa knew that Robin had those little quirks that Morgan picked up. However, whenever he did that, he looked so much more like his father, serious and authoritative, with a gentle and assuring aura that sheltered everyone else who looked at him. Suddenly, the brand in his right eye would be much more noticeable and everyone else would be reminded of what and who Morgan really is: the tactician prince of House Ylisse, who, along with his sister, led the new Shepherds in the war against the fell-dragon Grima.

Severa knew she must have been staring at him too much as they walked because the tactician prince moved his eyes from the map to meet hers. He looked at her quizzically for a moment before he sent her a worried smile. "Is something wrong?" he asked. Severa only sent him a cold huff and shook her head slightly and went back to looking ahead. Morgan chuckled softly and murmured "I thought so. You're not the type to worry." before going back to analyzing the map. The group stayed silent after that and Severa was careful not to stare again, although she did send him a few glances every now and then.

Once they reached their destination, a dense forest near the foot of a mountain, every member of the group had gathered around hidden under the tall trees, low into the ground. Gerome had scouted some time before they began and brought back news that sent Morgan heatedly rethinking and reformulating new tactics. According to Gerome's report, there are more Risen than what was expected of a reeking box, so Morgan could only speculate that another group had appeared shortly after the first have been summoned by the accursed box. Such turn of events was not unheard of, yet rare in nature. A reeking box could only summon about 10-15 Risen at most, given their designated location but with the appearance of another group, it could be said that there were a total of 25-30, and they were clearly outnumbered and unprepared especially since they weren't graced by the presence of a healer. However, being the stubborn tactician Morgan strived to be, he refused to admit that they were unprepared. Outnumbered yes, but unprepared was unforgivable by his mother's standards, and by extension, his too. A good tactician must always be prepared despite any circumstances, always one step ahead. And so, Morgan continued formulating a plan based on the map Gerome had redrawn for him.

"It seems this group is a mixed of long and short ranged fighters, many of which are tome wielders, knights and bowmen. A few happen to be mercenaries too. It's a good thing mother had given us a well balanced team. Since there seems to be no fliers present, Gerome and for a brief moment, even Nah, could dominate the skies. Noire, you go with Gerome for a combination of long and short range attacks. While on air, Noire can focus shooting the enemies from above, mainly the mercenaries and mages. Keep an eye out on the mages and the archers, land when deemed necessary, Gerome, you can attack then, but mostly focus on the mages." Morgan instructed with practiced authority.

Gerome would have protested to being paired with Noire, but a pointed look from the talisman-carrying archer forced his mouth closed. Instead, he grunted in agreement and went to prepare another saddle on Minerva. Morgan then turned to Nah and Severa who were awaiting their orders.

"The same goes for the both of you. A combination of long and short ranged attacks. Severa will deal with the bowmen before they reach Gerome, Nah can take you up on air for a short amount of time to transport and support you. Then finish of whatever else the two of them fails to pick off." He said, offering the two girls a confident smile.

"And what about _you_?" Severa asked suspiciously. It was not that she thought he would simply lounge around and do nothing. She would never admit it, but she felt quite concerned with leaving Morgan alone without a partner. The prince merely shrugged which didn't help appease the mercenary at all.

"What, don't tell me you don't have a plan for yourself?!" she wouldn't believe it; Morgan was too smart after all. The prince laughed and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I'll take care of the knights, their defense might seem strong, but it's actually weak against magic. Whatever else, I'll finish off with my sword."

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><p>Thirty minutes into the fight, Severa had no idea what had become of Gerome and Noire. Last she heard, they had wiped out the mages, just as she and Nah had done with the bowmen to secure Gerome's uninterrupted flight. Morgan went off on his own and she had lost sight of him five minutes after he started scorching a nearby bush. Plus, through sheer bad luck, she was separated from Nah after the manakete chased of a group of mages good distance away, something she was cursing under her breath for a while now.<p>

She wanted to call out her partner's name to search for her, but she knew that would be unadvisable, given her current location, surrounded by trees, and how she did not even know if there were or how many enemies were left. She opted to get out of the forest instead and walk up to the foot of the mountain where it was surprisingly clear, quite devoid of trees. She figured Gerome and Noire could not have been separated as well and Nah could just take flight, so if there was any chance of finding her, it would be there, in the clearing, where she was easily visible from above.

Five minutes of waiting and she could already see a wyvern coming to her. Relieved that finally, someone found her, she waved her hands and called for Gerome to fly closer. Five meters from her and the wyvern started descending towards her, dangerously fast. A glimmer and Severa saw an axe rearing up its ugly head at her. Severa realized that this wyvern was not Minerva, and that was not Gerome sitting there.

Severa fumbled with her sword. She had let her guard down and allowed her grip to slacken. Before she could bring it up, she was sure that she would be hacked up by then. So much for being combat ready like her mother. She figured she had much to learn. To be fair, she couldn't distinguish Minerva from the other wyverns like Gerome and Cherche could. Plus, the wyvern's hulking body always made it impossible for someone standing in front of it to see the rider and Minerva didn't really use any distinctive armor either.

Before she could think of anything else, a figure appeared from behind, stepping in front her. It was Morgan, in all his princely glory. What wasn't so charming however was how he shoved her to the ground without warning. Severa landed on her back with a loud thud and a groan. Morgan crouched down just in time, narrowly missing the axe that the Risen swung frantically. It flew over them low enough for the wyvern to land however, the Risen pulled his wyvern back up and took to the skies again, ready to dive back at them. Before it could, Morgan flipped his tome open and with practiced aim, incinerated the wyvern and its rider. Both fell to the ground before it vanished into a purple miasma. Morgan's arcfire tome crumbled into pieces in his hands.

"Well, that's the last of it. And I thought there were no fliers." Morgan stated, turning back to Severa, who was watching him intently. Noticing her still on the ground, Morgan ran up to her and extended a hand. She was still staring up at him in wonder, amazed at how graceful he had moved just then, chanting out the spell he used on the Risen. It took her a few seconds longer to break out of her trance and when she did, she finally took notice of the blush on her cheeks. She sent him a glare, the most threatening one she could muster and slapped his hand away.

"Are you an idiot? What sort of _prince _shoves a lady to the ground, huh? Ugh, talk about rude!" she scolded, getting up. Morgan threw her an alarmed look and waved his hands frantically. "Ah n-no! It's just… I saw the wyvern was about to swing his axe a-and he was flying really low, he could have hit you! A-And there was no time to tell you to duck so- I'm really, really sorry Severa!" Morgan apologized, panicking.

"Whatever! You're an insult to every other prince around. Chrom would never do that and yet you just—" before she could finish, Morgan perked up and grabbed her tightly. With strength she never knew he had, Morgan turned and dipped her low into the ground as if dancing. He extended a hand away, palm open.

"Morgan what are you—" as she talked, a sword burrowed into the tactician prince's hand, its blade digging into the space between his ring and middle fingers. Morgan grimaced, a pained grunt escaping from his lips. It was another Risen. Severa had dropped her sword a moment ago when she fell on the ground and Morgan had used up his tome. His sword was missing from his belt as well. Severa was panicking now, close to screaming. She could see the blade digging deeper into his hand.

Morgan took a deep, slow breath and mumbled something inaudible. Suddenly, from his opened, bleeding palm, a wave of flames burst out, burning the Risen. It disappeared shortly; the sword stuck on Morgan's hand fell on the ground with a clang. The prince ended up kneeling on the ground, with Severa in tow.

"That was another surprise wasn't it? I didn't think that simply reciting a spell without a tome would work but I guess it's good I tried huh? Oh and I'm really sorry about that… are you alright? Severa?" he asked with a gentle smile on his face. He wasn't even paying attention to his hand. "Severa?" he repeated.

"Are you really an idiot? Are you daft? Morgan you stupid, idiotic, daft of an egghead! What is your problem? Don't you ever think before you act? Can you not act on a whim? You just start rushing around and doing everything you want to do!" Severa exclaimed. She didn't know what she was supposed to say, all she knew was that Morgan is bleeding and hurt and it's because he tried to protect her.

"W-Well. You'd get hit if I didn't." Morgan said, now examining his hands. Severa felt torn at that. She was happy that Morgan would do that for her, but also worried and angry that he had hurt himself in the process. The least she could do was thank him or say sorry for yelling at him. Say that she appreciates it.

"And look where that got you genius, you're hurt and-" _and now I'm worried about you, you idiot. _She wanted to add that but she just couldn't say it out loud. "…and now everyone's going to blame me for it!" she ended up saying instead.

"No they wouldn't. They'd know that I did it because someone was in danger. Or I was careless… either one." He laughed. Severa hated that laugh. "Wouldn't you care if you get hurt?" she asked then.

Morgan looked at her like she was a new book waiting to be opened. He looked genuinely interested in her. Then he chuckled and clenched his wounded hand into a tight fist, blood oozing out into her arm. "So long as someone you want to protect exists, then pain is nonexistent. Even the wisest men could act like fools in extremely dire situations." Severa looked at this boy in front of her. The son of Chrom and Robin. Everyone said he was more of his mother's. Severa could disagree. Morgan was so much like his father in so many ways.

The rapid beating of her heart was saying that she was so much like Cordelia as well.

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><p><strong>A.N<strong>

**To be honest, I really forgot about this story. Well not really forgot, I just thought this was finished and I marked it as complete so I didn't think about picking it up again. But then I realized there were some comments about wanting to read more and I completely forgot about it. So a month or two went by and this just gathered dust in one corner so I'm very sorry to those who have been waiting for a new chapter. It took this long so hopefully the others wouldn't.**

**I haven't written Severa and Morgan for quite a while so they may be a bit OOC in this one. I find Morgan's over cheerfulness even harder to write than Severa's snarky attitude strangely so I hope I didn't do so much of a bad job of writing this one.**

**Well, like before, thanks for reading, this sloppily written chapter once again. Reviews and constructive criticisms to improve my writing and get it right are always welcome. Til next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

The sky already had an orange hue, a sign of the passing afternoon, emphasized by the slight streak of red in the horizon, when Morgan's unit had prepared to trudge back to camp. The group had been delayed for quite a while and Severa had guessed that they might be the last of the three units to return. Regrouping had been hard enough already, with all of them surrounded by the thick forest and having been separated so far apart each other. Gerome and Noire who remained together all throughout the battle were the first to spot the tactician and the mercenary. Nah appeared later on in a slight panic, her eyes quickly landing on Severa the instant she emerged from the forest. After regrouping, Gerome and Morgan scouted twice to make sure no enemy Risen were left and Noire treated the acquired wounds of every unit member except Morgan, who failed to mention his wounded hand, already bandaged and hidden in the inside of his coat sleeves. Severa wondered why he didn't bother saying anything; when she looked at him questioningly, he merely smiled at her and shook his head. To say that it confused and annoyed Severa was an understatement. Somehow, she felt guiltier about it.

The way back to camp was livelier than earlier. With Morgan's head clear of thoughts of any upcoming battles, he was back to chattering and laughing like his usual self. His audience included Nah who responded willingly, and Noire, who laughed when the prince made jokes. Severa walked behind, eyeing the three silently as they walked on. She would glance up at the wyvern lord flying above them from time to time, but she mostly kept her eyes forward, locked on Morgan thinking of absolutely nothing but him, her and her new-found feelings for him.

She was starting to think that if there's anything she absolutely didn't need, it would be the growing crush she had for the tactician prince. She wasn't an idiot who would deny or turn a blind eye to it, no. She was absolutely certain that after two eventful occasions with him, she had started to develop unwanted feelings for Morgan, something she had time and time again, told herself not to do. It was so sudden that it had overwhelmed her, thinking that it only took a simple compliment and one act of heroism to get her attracted to the prince when usually, a horde of praise and a mountain of gifts and favors failed to get even her slightest interests. She had raised high standards for men and added near impossible demands, so it was vexing to think about how Morgan could tear it all down and get her blushing with just a simple smile. It was not amusing at all.

Deciding that she was close to treading on dangerous waters and breaking one of the most important rules she had set up for herself, Severa had decided to put a stop on her growing feelings, keep herself from feeling any more attracted to Morgan than she already had. It was bad enough that it had started, but it would be worse to keep it up. There were a lot of reasons why, but it was mainly because she would just get her hopes up and get disappointed. It would hurt terribly, and she would be lying to herself if she wasn't afraid of it.

She had learned enough from Cordelia; her mother was the best example. If someone as perfect as her wasn't deemed worthy to be Chrom's wife, then how could Severa guarantee acquiring Morgan's attention?

She watched as he further talked with Noire and Nah. The way they laughed and conversed with him told her that they had better chances with the prince, while she was there, just walking behind, and staring at his back. She wondered if this was the closest she can get to him and without wasting another second, immediately answered her own question with a silent yes. She could just laugh at herself for trying to dismiss her feelings in its earliest state. She had just begun to feel it and yet she was already trying to dispel it. Well, she figured it was already a hopeless case and she wouldn't settle with only looking at his back all the time, with him moving forward and her, always chasing after him. Maybe Cordelia could bear with it, chase after Chrom for so long, and maybe her father could too, with the way he waited for Cordelia to love him back. But maybe that was not a trait Severa had inherited from her parents. Her heart is not so resilient and she is not hopeful enough to dream.

Severa could easily admit to herself that yes, she was growing fond of and attracted to Morgan, but she could just as easily say that no, she will not be contented with only having to look at his back, watching him walk away from her. Because more than anything, she wants him to look at her, she wants to look at his honest, blue eyes. She wants to see him smile at her, face her, walk side by side with her and maybe hold her hand along the way. She wanted all that.

"Heeey, lady Severa?" an obnoxious voice which she immediately recognized as Morgan's snapped her out of her thoughts. It took her a while but she realized that she had stopped walking and the prince was standing right in front of her and looking at her in a confused and worried manner. His hand was inches away from taking hers and she noticed him pull back hesitantly (or it could have been wishful thinking on her part). She looked around and noticed the others were standing way off in the distance, waiting for them. Morgan waved the others to go on ahead, which they did reluctantly, leaving just the two of them standing there.

"I was wondering why you suddenly stopped walking. You weren't responding when I called you so I was wondering—is something wrong?" he asked. Of course she couldn't just say that she was just agonizing over her self-proclaimed unrequited love for him and wishing that he would look at her (which he was currently doing, much to her embarrassment and unsaid delight), so she settled for her usual reply.

"It's none of your business, dork. Don't pry." She growled, keeping her eyes away from his, which were honestly looking at her. She was afraid that if she accidently locked eyes with him, she'd spill everything out and just confess. Instead, she pushed past him and continued walking, albeit slowly so that he could run after her.

"Sorry. I was just worried. Hey, are you still guilty about my hand? Because you know I did say you didn't have to, right?" he asked as he jogged to keep up with her. She flashed him an annoyed look. "Of course not! I already apologized so why would I be? But you know you're still an idiot for not having Noire treat that! What is up with that? Is your head working right or did a Risen actually manage to chip off a part of your brain?"

"I think I'd know if they did managed that. But hey—what if that's the cause of my amnesia?" Severa rolled her eyes at his statement, unable to believe that this came out of Morgan, the genius tactician's son who apparently inherited his mother's wits. She was starting to think that maybe it was his father's sense of humor that he had inherited, lacking and dry, pitifully so. She would bet on that, for sure.

"Still, I think this is just a minor wound. If you could compare it to Gerome's nearly broken shoulder, this is nothing. It's just a waste of a healing staff." Morgan said, waving his hand around, bandaged and cleaned by Severa herself. "Also, you've done a well-enough job wrapping it. Why don't you become a cleric? We need more of those, just so you know."

"Hmph. I prefer swinging a sword than a staff any day, thank you very much. Anyway, weren't you listening to Frederick when he said all wounds must be treated immediately? Even a paper cut can cause an infection and you'll just be in the way if that happens."

"Wow, are you concerned about me?"

"Someone's being cocky."

Morgan chuckled and placed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know. Sorry. Anyway, don't worry about it, I'm sure it'll be fine." Although Severa wasn't at all satisfied with his answer, she didn't reply after that, opting to walk in silence for a while. Morgan looked content just walking with her and it seemed as if he didn't have any plans of starting up a new conversation with her. After taking a few steps, she sighed and discreetly glanced over at him.

"Why don't you go back to those guys now? I'm sure those two lovely lady friends of yours would enjoy resuming your little chat with them." Severa didn't notice it, but there was slight annoyance and a tint of jealousy laced in the tone of her voice. If Morgan noticed it, he didn't show.

"Hmm? Oh they've already gone a good distance ahead. I'd have to run to catch up to them and that would mean leaving you here by yourself. Isn't that rude?" he asked, turning to her before looking away again.

"Besides, they've already laughed at all my jokes; I figured I'd try them on you this time. Y'know, lift up that frown of yours. You're starting to look like my sister."

"And what makes you think I'd even so much as smile at your jokes?" Severa snapped. For all she knew, he had Lucina's lame sense of humor.

"I don't know… I just figured you would."

"Ugh well the only thing you'll get from me are insults, I'm telling you this now."

Morgan simply smiled at her as he scratched his cheek. "I guess that's good too." Severa looked at him in surprise. He was willing to take that in? The only other person she knew who would swat away her insults like they were nothing was Inigo, and that was all because he wanted to ask her out for a date, which she always turned down without fail.

"That's good too? Are you a masochist? Naga, that's gross Morgan!" The prince held his hands up defensively. Severa would never tell him, but the sight of him panicking was quite amusing to see because it made her think that even princes could lose their composure. Of course, Morgan wasn't always composed like a real prince should, but he didn't always panic as well, even in battle.

"No! No, it's not that! It's just that talking to you—I'd take any excuse to talk to you!" he blurted out on a whim. It seemed like he realized what he had said as a small blush crept to his cheeks. Severa mentally screamed at herself to keep from doing the same, but with little success. Her face already felt hot. "That's the same as saying you like talking to me! So you do enjoy getting insulted!"

"No wait, it's—how do I explain it? Uh… it's just… you're one of the few people who would actually talk down to me. I mean, it's good that everyone's so nice but I don't know if they're doing that because I'm the Exalt and the tactician's son. Your snarky attitude is refreshing so I really enjoy talking with you. It'd be nice if we could talk a lot more. I know I would enjoy it." He smiled that boyish smile that told Severa that everything he said was true and free of any flirtatious intent.

"And you think that's going to flatter me? Morgan, telling a lady that she has a snarky attitude is just rude! I can't believe you!" Severa stomped away, walking faster and leaving a confused Morgan looking after her. As she marched quickly, she slid her hands to her blush tinted cheeks to cover them. She silently cursed the prince repeatedly in her head for what he had just said.

_'Stupid, annoying Morgan! I was supposed to put a stop to these worthless feelings! How am I going to do that now? Morgan, you big dolt!' _

It seemed like it was too early to make her forget about her developing attraction for Morgan after all. Another day will come for that. As for now, Severa figured she'll have to deal with these feelings in another way.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.<strong>

**So that's chapter 3 then! This took way too long. It's probably because I was distracted, but mostly because I'm not good at writing romance stories at all. Seriously. The pace always goes too fast or too slow building. I had to rewrite this chapter a lot of times because it just doesn't feel right.**

**Oh and also, I think I should start responding to all those lovely reviews you lovely people dropped off right? So here goes...**

**HellfireSupremacy: That's another way to look at it. I can it imagine Severa and Cordelia having one of those mother-daughter moments and Severa goes 'I snagged your unrequited love's son mom! Who's the better woman now?' or maybe that's just me hahaha. **

**And gods M!Robin/Noire. It's like if they do happen, I'll start worrying about Noire because I don't think Tharja will be all that welcoming about it**

**Morgan really just comes up as cheerful and optimistic to me most of the time. I mean, I wouldn't be too proud about having to admit that I banged my head on a post/wall trying to remember my father**

**EarendilElwing: Thank you so much! I just hope I can keep up the quality of writing. I get inconsistent as time passes**

**GoLdensummertime: ikr! I mostly see them as siblings or just friends in the fanfics. I think it's because of their supports. I love the pairing but in my opinion, their supports were horrible. Not one of my favorites, really.**

**Remepie: oh I'm tempted to do that too haha. Honestly, I still have no idea how this ends so we'll just have to see what happens and who ends up with who**

**Gunlord500: Thanks so much! I mostly see Severa hating or criticizing her mother's unrequited love for Chrom in the game so I thought about how it would go if she had the same experience, albeit different ending, hopefully**

**Death-Prince-3: Thank you very much! I do hope I can keep writing them well enough. I'm notorious for writing characters as ooc as time passes orz**

**EternalKing: Thank you so much! That's exactly why I wrote this I guess haha. Not a very popular pairing, it seems**

**AAAAAnd that's it! Again, thank you so much for taking the time to read, review, fave or follow this story! It's very much appreciated! Love you guys!**


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